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Conservative Party of Canada

Andrew Scheer

Statement by Rona Ambrose, Leader of the Official Opposition, and Interim Leader of the Conservative Party, on International Holocaust Remembrance Day

January 27, 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Today we remember the countless innocent men, women, and children, including six million Jews who were murdered in Nazi death camps during the Second World War.

We also honour those who survived the terrible cruelty of the Holocaust – tens of thousands of whom eventually made their way to Canada – and express our gratitude to those who put their own lives in danger to come to their aid.

The fortitude of the survivors and the courage of those who gave them comfort and shelter in the face of unspeakable evil has been and remains an inspiration to generations since.

Sadly, today is also a day to remind ourselves that the undisguised anti-Semitism of the Nazi-era still festers in too many parts of the world – and that it can reach even into our own society, clothed in more subtle garb.

In too many parts of the world people still face terror, persecution, and oppression not for anything they have done, but simply for who they are or for what they believe.

We call on the Government of Canada to continue to stand against this, both in words and actions, here at home and around the world.

And we call on the Government to follow through on the all-party commitment to the international 2009 Terezin Declaration regarding the restitution of property stolen by the Nazis from Jewish families during the Holocaust.

Today, on the seventy-first anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of the death camps, all people who cherish freedom, justice, and tolerance are called upon to reflect on one of the darkest periods of human history. And we are called upon to renew our commitment to a solemn vow: “Never again.”